


anomaly

by brandywine421



Series: Unfinished AUs of Flail (aka fail) [18]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Push (2009), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Mutants, M/M, Multiple Crossovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 07:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10329524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: She turns her full attention to Steve. "You were giving me directions without talking. I have psychic shields in place and you were talking in my head, Steve."He gave orders out loud, didn't he? Fuck - did the chaos of an alien invasion and nuclear bomb screw up his control that much?"'Tasha," Clint warns.She silences him with a look and addresses Steve. "If you were talking to me telepathically, that means you're powerful - and if you didn't do it intentionally, that means you're slipping. SHIELD will tear you apart if they find out you're a mutant," she whispers."Which is why they don't need to know, right?" Clint says before Steve can reply.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Another fail at Nano, didn't even break 10k on this one if I count the outline. But I do so love so many things about this even if I crossed over a bunch of shit.
> 
> I'm leaving the outline in there since this is not!fic like the last. Too many scenes written for me to throw away without feeling sad about it so I'm posting.

# outline & bits

\- Erskine told Howard, but not Steve, about the anomalies in his DNA. He was the only subject that Erskine would have allowed to do the experiment because even then he had his suspicions on how the US government would use an army of supersoldiers. The serum was calibrated to match Steve's DNA to ensure it couldn't be replicated. It would only work on mutants, normal soldiers wouldn't be affected, and each mutation had to be tweaked appropriately for it to work. Steve was the perfect subject to test it.

\- After Erskine's death, Howard told most of the truth - he didn't know shit about biology or gene manipulation - but Steve was smart as fuck and he spotted the anomaly in his own code and got the information out of him.

\- Steve always knew he was different - he's always picked up outside emotions - fear, sads, lust - and he's accidentally passed his own to others but he's never pushed past empathy and fears telepathy like cray. He mentioned it to Bucky once but his bff told him that it was nothing and he should never ever talk like that.

\- When he wakes up in 2012, his senses are haywire and he's telepathic for the first time simply because he can't shut it off or rein it in. He manages to hold it together well enough, no one thinks he's weird because he's a mindreader, only because he's been frozen 70 years.

\- He figures out pretty quickly that SHIELD is infested and HYDRA is very much alive but he doesn't know who to trust. He requests Agent 13 as his handler because he knows that she's related to Peggy, probably the only living person he would actually trust. He's smarter than they think he is and figures out tech and catches up on history and science mind-boggling-ly fast but doesn't let on that he's ahead of the game.

\- He bonds with Clint and Natasha vaguely and marks up Fury as a dangerous but honorable and he sits tight and researches. He's legit devastated when he finds out about Howard but with the history of SI and weapons, he doesn't want to open communications with Tony without invitation.

  
**That's kind of where it was supposed to start. Here's some Clint bonding pre-Avengers.

 

 

  
## clint

"Hey, Cap." Clint's surprised to see him but Steve can't blame him. He's been jumping through hoops for scientists and hiding his panic and suspicion from security cameras he can't see but knows are always watching.

SHIELD isn't the SSR. This isn't his America but he's still carrying the Shield. He's still Steve Rogers and he still needs friends he can trust.

"Hey. Haven't seen you in a few days, thought I'd stop in and see how they're treating you," he says. Clint's been on light duty and under 'observation' since a classified mission Steve isn't suppose to know about.

Clint shrugs and he figures it's the best answer he can expect. "Want to help an old man buy a motorcycle?" he tacks on.

"I don't know if you're cleared to leave the base unattended," Clint replies, scanning him curiously.

"I'm not unattended," Steve smiles, running his hand over the cobbled together signal jammer in his pocket. "Coulson has a soft spot for me, and he lets you get away with more than anyone else around here."

Clint's face slowly blooms into a smile. "Sure, Cap. Let me get my jacket."

After the adrenaline and relief at beating actual aliens and saving the world wore off, he started paying more attention to the people that were giving the orders. And the ones following them blindly.

  
## come at me bro

  
**so then Loki and all that stuff happens when Clint gets brainwashed. This happens when Cap's on the Helicarrier.

  
## invader

Steve closes the door to the bathroom and scans for cameras before stepping into a stall and bracketing his forehead with his fingers. He doesn't know if it makes a difference, but he needs to concentrate. He times his heartbeats and *reaches* for a beat to match, a beat he recognizes.

He finds it, a dissonant sound but familiar enough around the edges for him to tag on. "Kenneth. What's your frequency?"

"That doesn't make any sense. Cap?"

He breathes. "Barton. Someone's taken control of your head. Do you understand?"

"Fucking yes considering I killed three good friends two hours ago. How are you - oh, is this the thing?"

"Later. Nobody knows that I can do this, hell, I don't even know exactly how it works but right now, I need to know your status. It's magic, right? Not science or something else?" Steve doesn't know the right questions.

"It's the scepter, I don't have any control. I can't even speak without his permission. No one on this plane - shit - we're on a plane headed to the Helicarrier to pick up Loki and the scepter. We're all under his spell and I don't know how to break it."

"Can you give me your coordinates? Do you know anything we can use?"

"If I get control, I still have a jet-full of mind-controlled soldiers."

"If you get control, you can fly the plane in the other direction while we figure it out. Loki gave you orders, but he's not giving them to you now, is he? Would the others know anything was wrong?" Steve asks.

"Probably not. Shit. I can't - "

He steadies himself. "Yes, you can. Focus. You're not a puppet, you're Clint Barton."

"I know that, Cap, try something else."

Steve senses the man's frustration and tries to think of how to break mental control. He needs to shock it out of him. Like hiccups. Sure.

"I had sex for the first time with Howard Stark for my twenty-fourth birthday."

Clint chokes in his head. "Fuck you - "

"Did it work?"

"Yeah, but that's definitely TMI."

"I didn't say it was true, I just needed to startle you. Can you get on the comms? If we don't let Loki know something's up with the plan then we'll have a little time to figure this out."

"Get an earpiece and get out of my head, Cap. We'll hug it out later. Pretend to be surprised when I make the call."

He braces himself on the wall with one hand and opens his eyes. He hopes he's not insane. He hopes Clint is alive, that he's worth the trust Cap just gave him. He hopes it's not all in his head and this might turn the tide in their favor.

He doesn't like working with people without knowing their true motives. But he thinks Clint is a friend.

 

**The Avengers stuff starts to go down, this next stuff happens during the battle of Manhattan.

  
## battle slips

The Chitauri keep coming, all sides, all at once and his head pounds with screams and static and explosions and everything all the time.

Focus. He zones back to the battle as much as he can, boomeranging the shield and using his reinforced fists to keep from being overwhelmed - but the battle zone covers too much area for one on one fighting to make much difference at this point. They need more control.

"Three o'clock, duck," he calls, slinging his shield as Natasha obeys fluidly.

"We should fight back to back, make our way to the bridge and we'll have better sightlines," he says.

She looks at him with a sharp glare. "Cap - okay."

He's not sure what that's all about but they make a good team clearing the street and making progress to the bridge where cops are struggling with the influx of aliens.

He passes her a couple of pistols and a handful of clips from a fallen officer without her having to mention it and earns another strange look.

He has bigger things to worry about right now and makes a beeline to the cop yelling the loudest from the shoddy perimeter.

 

  
## natasha

"Barton?"

Steve bites back a smile at Clint's wince but the guy doesn't lower the phone. He motions for her to come into the SHIELD van they've commandeered for their momentary time out.

"Ice pack or aspirin? Got a couple of Red Bulls left, too," Steve offers.

She shakes her head but climbs in and slams the door to seal them inside. "Is this thing bugged?"

Clint rolls his eyes at her and resumes his flailing attempts to reassure his wife that he's okay.

She narrows her eyes at Steve. "Is he talking to Laura?"

"Of course not," Steve replies with an innocent expression. "It's a burner phone," he adds when she doesn't blink.

"Cap, does SHIELD know what you can do?" Natasha asks flatly.

He freezes. How does she know? Did Clint spill his secret already?

Clint lowers the phone. "What are you talking about Natasha?"

"Talk to your wife, Clint," she snaps, turning her full attention to Steve. "You were giving me directions without talking. I have psychic shields in place and you were talking in my head, Steve - and Clint's watching you with stars in his eyes and I doubt he just shook himself out of Loki's spell on his own."

He gave orders out loud, didn't he? Fuck - did the chaos of an alien invasion and nuclear bomb screw up his control that much?

"'Tasha," Clint warns.

She silences him with a look and addresses Steve. "If you were talking to me telepathically, that means you're powerful - and if you didn't do it intentionally, that means you're slipping. SHIELD will tear you apart if they find out you're a mutant," she whispers.

"Which is why they don't need to know, right?" Clint says before Steve can reply.

"If I thought he was dangerous, they already would - but it goes both ways, you could sense me and I could sense you, Cap. You've got a lot going on," she says, her eyes soften for a flash but too fast for him to be sure.

"It wasn't like this before, I only had mild empathic abilities, this is new and I'm - "

"Slipping," Natasha finishes. "Your adrenaline's wearing off so it's going to get better or worse. I can't deal with this right now and you and Clint can't either. Stay on cleanup and we'll regroup back at the Tower once Banner and Stark are settled and Loki's locked the hell up. Hard labor should keep your antenna down until the three of us regroup tomorrow."

 

  
## straight talk

He's too exhausted to move or apologize for not moving when Pepper Potts sits down beside him on the couch.

"I honestly thought I'd gone home already," he says absently.

She smiles. He's seen her in his pop culture crash courses and she's prettier in person. He wonders how Tony got a lady like her. "I'm glad you're still here. Tony wouldn't say it outright, but he didn't want you going back to SHIELD tonight but he wouldn't explain why."

"Dunno. How are you? I hope you were far from New York," he says, shaking himself awake.

"I just got in a couple of hours ago. Do you know who that man is?" she asks, motioning to Bruce.

"Dr. Banner. It's a pretty long story and I'm not sure I'm qualified to fill you in. I'm not fully sure what happened myself."

She hesitates and glances through the wide windows where the night sky is still lit up with flashing sirens and emergency flares.

He can't help but feel how scared she is. She's not quite terrified, but she's coming down from it. "Coffee?"

"You should rest, I'm fine," she says unconvincingly.

"I slept for seventy years, Ms. Potts, I could use some conversation with someone not wearing a uniform." Her smile's more genuine as they quietly make their way to the small kitchen.

"I hope Tony was polite, he's mercurial on a good day," she says when they're settled across the counter from each other.

Steve shrugs. He isn't going to lie to her. "We didn't have much time to make friends."

She studies him, curious. "Were you close with his father?"

He avoids her eyes but he still doesn't want to lie to her. "Yes. I've been warned not to talk about it, but yes, he was a very good friend and I miss him."

She seems surprised but the pity comes from her in waves. Great. "I'm sorry. God, this must be awful for you. I hope SHIELD has a very good therapist on staff."

He likes her honesty and shrugs to put her at ease. "I'm sure they do but therapy hasn't been high on my list so far. It's not something we had much of back in my days. That makes me sound like an old man, but I'm too tired to censor myself. Did we get a new casualty count?"

"Tony got us banned from asking about it again until morning," she admits. She accepts the warm cup with a shy smile. "Can I ask you some things?"

"Maybe. Don't know if I'll answer them all, but you can ask," he decides.

She laughs. "Fair enough. I just wondered if you'd tell me about Howard. I've been seeing Tony for a few years now, and known him for longer but no matter how big his 'daddy issues' are, he's never talked about them."

Steve smiles tiredly. "The last time I saw Howard, I gave him my dog tags and he said he'd love me forever even if I hated him for it."

The shock on Pepper's face makes it worth it. She deserves it for bringing it up.

"From what I understand, Tony hates Howard because he spent too much time searching for my body. To Tony, that made him a crappy father. To me, hell, it means everything to me," Steve admits. "I can't process the man I loved being a man that would mistreat his son. I can't process that he spent so much time looking for me."

"Did he want kids?" Pepper asks, skirting over the revelations she needs time to mull over. If his telepathy wasn't still on a hair trigger, he wouldn't be able to read her at all.

"He was sterile, I thought. Anyone in the room with the Vita-Ray machine was sterile because of the radiation. But he would have found a way around it if he wanted a family," Steve replies.

Pepper's surprised but she covers it with a sip of coffee.

"He liked kids. He'd do all these stupid magic tricks, pulling coins from thin air and making puffs of smoke and lighting scarves on fire," Steve remembers. "Never saw him pass a panhandler without slipping him a fiver. He was a good man, a man I was proud to know. I can imagine him meeting a nice lady, having a son - but I can't picture the things I read past that. He hated monotony of running the business and he only started it to make sure he could control who used his weapons. After the war, he was going to start focusing on his civilian designs."

"You guys were going to settle down together?" Pepper asks softly.

He shrugs. "It was the 40's, that wasn't really an option. I would probably have been leashed to the Army and he had the company - but in a perfect world, he would have given me a cushy job doing drafting work, or driving him around."

She reaches over and squeezes his hand. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Tony's nothing like the Howard I remember, but I barely know him. I haven't sought him out because I haven't fully come to terms with everything I lost," Steve says.  
  
"Thanks for humoring my questions," she says, apologetic. "Anything you need, you let me know, okay? I don't want you thinking SHIELD's the only option you have."

Natasha clears her throat. "Cap, got a ride for you downstairs."

"You're both welcome to stay, we have rooms cleaned out," Pepper offers.

"We've got a full day of debriefing tomorrow and it'll take forever to get to HQ if we try it from here in the morning."

  
**I don't remember if I intended for this to be Howard/Steve when I started it, but Steve's totes mourning him for all of this.

 

## accidental eavesdrop

"Ouch, Cap. Last night was a little harsh," Barton says, pouring Steve half a cup of coffee and starting a fresh pot.

Steve isn't sure what he's talking about even after he takes the caffeine like a shot.

"I had your dreams. You were pretty into Howard. Seemed like he was pretty into you, too," Clint says flatly.

"Shit," he realizes. "I'm sorry; I've been a little off since I came out of that glacier. I mean, I never had any telepathy, I could only sense feelings and project emotions back then. I never used it. I didn't know it worked when I was sleeping."

Clint only takes a moment to consider it before he nods. "We need to get you a second opinion, Cap."

He shrugs. "Even before the serum, I would have been considered a 'mutant' by today's diagnosis. I tried to reach out to that Xavier guy but my prospective contact thinks I'm an imposter so I moved my focus. I apologize for anything inappropriate you may have seen last night."

"I didn't know Howard Stark was so much like Tony," Clint says after a long beat.

"Tony wishes he had his father's swagger. I don't know what happened to him, but - I don't want to talk about it anymore," Steve says. It had been a good dream, Paris, his favorite memory of France.

"Sorry. I just didn't know that you were - Tony would flip the fuck out if he knew," Clint says seriously.

Steve huffs. "He knows, Pepper says it's why he hates me so much. I don't have time to worry about it with everything else. Howard's dead, Bucky's dead and Peggy has dementia. My personal baggage doesn't have a place here when I'm working for HYDRA and trying not to bleed into other people's brains."

Clint shrugs. "With all that, I guess I should be grateful I got a good dream. I'm going to get you a mutant consult, my contact should come through. Your brain thing needs to take top priority until Natasha gets better Intel from inside. She'll want you to poke around their heads to make sure they're not Nazis before she brings anyone else in on the news so you'll need better control."

"If you can get me a meeting, go for it. I'd prefer my dreams to stay private."

Clint nods, understanding and he's relieved not to sense any judgment from the guy. "Got it. And Steve? I'm sorry for your loss, all of them."

He settles in with the new files and another batch of computer training manuals to improve his growing hacking skills. Computers were a necessity in this century and he needed to get on top of all that he missed.

He senses Natasha before she comes inside the safehouse, her cool calm refreshing and settling his nerves more than Clint's taut bowstring of tension. She drops a small bag of tobacco and rolling papers on the desk and he smiles.

"Clint's picking up your brainwaves more than I am. He says this will help since you can't get cancer from it," she says. "You're going to need it when I lay out what I've found."

He busies himself rolling a cigarette with one hand as he closes down his workstation. "Thanks. He's supposed to be reaching out to get me some help for the whole brain thing off SHIELD's radar."

"Good plan. I have questions. But you're going to have a lot more than me after I share. Where's Clint?"

"Reciting Jay-Z lyrics in the shower, so I won't soak up anything else," Steve replies absently.

 

**And this is where the crossover madness begins in earnest. It's when things go a little wonky but still has some of my fave scenes.

 

## meet the professor

"Oh. You know Logan. He hasn't mentioned you," Charles says after a moment.

Steve sighs. "Yeah, he doesn't believe I'm alive. I understand if you can't help me."

Natasha clears her throat. "This doesn't have anything to do with Wolverine or Captain America. This has to do with Steve Rogers. He had this gift before he got the serum."

Charles nods knowingly. "Of course. I only mentioned it because the Captain, sorry, Steve, is projecting."

"How do you control it?" Steve blurts out.

"You're…quite powerful. I don't know how I haven't sensed you sooner," Charles frowns. His eyes dim. "Oh. You were frozen. We should speak privately."

"Can you help?" Natasha interrupts. Steve's not sure how he feels about her new protectiveness.

"I will do my best. Come into my office, it's psychically shielded so we won't be disturbed," Charles says. "Ms. Romanova, you are welcome to stay here but I hope you'll respect our privacy within these walls."

She nods and Steve knows she means it. She's not comfortable around mutants and he hopes he doesn't get enough vibes off her to learn why considering her unrest.

"She says you had these powers before you were enhanced, tell me about that," Charles says when the door is closed behind them.

"Not like this, not before or after the serum. The telepathy is a post-ice development. I could sense feelings and project them, never intentionally, but I couldn't read thoughts," Steve explains.

Charles considers him. "Are you sure? It's possible you had the potential but never explored it."

"Maybe. Things were different in the 40's," Steve replies honestly. "My mother knew, I think, but people were sent for lobotomies or electroshock for less. I had a list of things that could've landed me there if she knew about them."  
  
"From what I can pick up, your mother was a kind and honorable lady. We should all be grateful for her care of you. I'd like you to try and keep me from getting into your head," Charles instructs.

Steve sighs. "If I knew how to do that, I wouldn't be here."

Charles smiles kindly. "You have to practice. There's no manual for this; it's unique to each person. You had control over your empathic powers before, you just need to find your focus. There's no quick fix, it's a part of you."

Steve turns his attention to the shelves of books. "It was different before, things were familiar. Everything smells and tastes different, people dress and talk differently. I should be used to it by now but I'm living on a military base full of liars and there's no one alive that I can trust."

Charles raps his knuckles on the desk suddenly, catching his attention. "You're projecting again. Have a seat. Perhaps you need some kind of tether for now. Do you have a watch, or dog tags perhaps?" The man winces. "Okay, no dog tags."

"You saw that?" Steve flushes.

"Unintentionally. I'm seeing a lot of things unintentionally. Is it too soon to tell you that SHIELD is not the best place for you?" Charles asks, sharper than Steve expects from him.

"SHIELD is dirty but I can't do anything until I'm more prepared. No one's supposed to know any of this."

Charles leans forward. "Confidentiality isn't an issue here, Steve, but if you can't focus and rein in your gifts - it will be for everyone you come in contact with."

 

 

  
## logan

"I told you everything I know, Logan. The Professor's in a meeting and cancelled his afternoon classes and Dr. McCoy got called in to assist."

Logan gruffly thanks the girl and waits for her to turn the corner before backtracking to Xavier's office. If Xavier and McCoy are in a 'meeting', then Logan should be there, too.

Or maybe he just wants to know why he's at risk of having to sub for one of the classes where the students knew more than he did.

His claws spring from his knuckles when he recognizes the Black Widow staring at him from the seat outside of the office.

"Nice to see you, too," she says without blinking.

"Do I want to know what you're doing here?" he asks, retracting his metal claws when she doesn't make any sudden movements.

"Probably," she says demurely. "But it's none of your business."

He growls but she rolls her eyes. He knows she's good but he could take her if he has to.

"Have you gotten any calls lately from old friends?" she asks, matching his cool stare.

Oh, this was about the Captain America imposter. "From SHIELD's shiny pet posterboy?"

Her eyes flash but she doesn't react otherwise.

"Don't know why he thought I served with the late, great, Captain Fucking America anyway," Logan replies, hoping to earn another slip in her facade.

"Interesting," the Widow hums.

.  
.  
.

"I was passed around over the years. KGB. Red Room. Spent a couple of years with Department X, I'm told, before SHIELD took me in. Nameless, faceless controllers fed me a profile and I became whoever they needed me to be. Steve woke up with a full memory. No wipe," she says slowly. "All those memories of friends and lovers and family and none left alive that remember him."

He shivers. "I didn't know," he says finally. "About you, or that he's the real deal. He was my friend."

"And now he's mine. The Professor says he can help him, that's why I'm here. We don't need anything from you," she says, leaning back in the seat now that her guilt trip's done.

Logan sighs. "Yeah, you do. But I don't work with SHIELD."

She raises an impeccable eyebrow. "If what Cap thinks is true, I won't be working with them much longer myself."

That's interesting. "What does Cap think?"

"SHIELD's dirty," she replies simply.

"How dirty?"

She blinks at him.

If she was with the Red Room and Department X - and still alive and in control of her own choices - then he'll give her a shot. He owes her that as a survivor.

"I can show you a little of that dirt. Come on, before they're done. If you're really Cap's friend, I guarantee you'll want to see this first."

 

 

  
## dun dun dun

"Wait," Steve says, holding up his hand.

Everything stops. Steve takes a deep breath and checks his new, carefully constructed, mental walls. If these are the people that he wants to stand beside him - he needs them to trust that he can hold it together.

"Okay. Start over, please," he says with a steady nod.

"Nice save, Professor definitely gave you some tips," Clint says, a solid attempt at being reassuring.

"He's going to need them for this story. I'm checking out the bombs he's about to drop already and I'll try to pick up where he leaves off," Natasha says quietly, guilty but not ashamed of it.

Logan glances between them and waits for Steve to meet his gaze. "I'm glad you're back, Cap, and lucky for you, I'm not the only one that's going to be glad about it."

Steve lets out a breath. Steady. "You were talking about Department X and how you got out."

"Yeah. I don't remember much, some of their methods are more permanent than others; but I remember who got me out. Stark."

"Howard?" Steve asks before anyone can mention Tony.

Logan gives him a thumb's up. "Got it in one. He wasn't looking for me, I don't know if he knew my name when I was working with the Commandos, but he separated me out because of my DNA. Mutants were on the radar and with these," he flexes his metal claws, "I was a pretty hot commodity in scientific and military circles."

"Stark was riding a desk with the suits by that time," Clint says, his eyes ticking through a mental timeline.

"Different Stark. Howard had a couple of stand-ins by then. He was following a lead on Barnes."

"Bucky? Why? He's dead," Steve whispers. He's going to have to make the man start his story over again.

"Barnes got the same kind of juice you did when HYDRA had him. He didn't die in the snow, he was captured."

Natasha shifts minutely. "He was with the Red Room when I was training. They kept him in a cryo tank, I never saw him mobile."

He can't breathe.

"I didn't recognize him when I was with Department X because my head was scraped clean as much as his by then. Stark came for Barnes but he took me with them before the big guns rolled in to bring the whole thing down. At first I thought he wanted to study me, or hire me to kill for SHIELD; but he got me out because he knew if the admantium worked on me, the army would try it on you just for shits and giggles if they found you."

"God," Steve whispers. It can't be true.

"Barnes has been in hiding since the 70's, but I got a postcard a few years ago so I'm pretty sure he's still kicking," Logan says carefully. He pauses. "Stark went batshit, Cap. I'm sorry, but he went full-on mad scientist after he saved Barnes."

"Tony said - " Steve starts, not sure he wants to hear about Howard before he processes what Logan's said already.

"Tony's father wasn't the same Howard," Logan says. "There were three of them, at least, when the public one married Tony's mother. I think things got out of hand when that clone took center stage - the real Howard never got control back when he took lead."

"Clones?" Clint asks, doubt in his voice but not in his sharp eyes.

"Oh yeah," Logan sighs. "Batshit. Same DNA, but different personalities. Tony's Dad was a numbers guy, not so much with brains otherwise. The other one I met was a spy, worked undercover as a Catholic priest," he snorts softly. "His body count was higher than mine by the time he went out. The real Stark's got an island in the Atlantic somewhere."

"What?" Steve asks sharply.

"I'm not starting over again, bub," Logan huffs. "Barnes' serum worked even though he wasn't a mutant and your boy replicated enough of a sample from him to take a shot of homegrown."

"No - he wouldn't - " Steve starts but immediately closes his mouth. Howard *would* if he was desperate enough.

"Get back to the clones," Natasha urges.

"He stopped making new versions of himself when he stopped aging. But there are two of you bouncing around, probably in their twenties. Hell, probably your age by now minus the nap," Logan says.

Steve leans forward and puts his head between his knees. "Bucky's alive. Howard's alive. There are clones of Howard. There are clones of me."

Natasha puts her cool hand on the back of his neck.

"Let me have one of your cigars, Logan," Steve says finally, sitting up again. "I really need to know more about everything you just said, but my - whatever - has to wait until I deal with SHIELD."

"You really think they're HYDRA?" Logan asks after a beat.

"I do. No matter how much I want to know about Bucky and Howard - I have to make sure I didn't die for nothing first. I want HYDRA gone. I have to finish the mission I started 70 years ago."

 

 

## tony

"Okay. We're doing this now? I guess we're doing this now," Tony says when Pepper closed the lid of his laptop.

"Please don't kill each other, we just had the floors cleaned," she says, closing the door firmly and leaving him with Captain 'I ruined your childhood' America.

Cap looks like he's standing at parade rest and Tony hates when he has to feel guilty for shit that he totally doesn't feel guilty for. "Do you want to talk like grown-ups or do you need to vent first?"

"By all means, let's talk. What's on your mind?" Tony asks, wondering if his nostrils are flaring like Pepper always says they do when he's pissed.

"I get that you don't like me and that's fine, it's not fair, but it's fine. This isn't about our personal feelings about each other, it's bigger than that. You're a hero, stronger than most of us considering the fact you got there without being 'super' and I'm going to need some help soon, if you're willing to work with me," Cap says evenly.

Tony considers his words carefully. "Sounds like you've been busy. What kind of help could I bring to the table?"

"The virus you planted in SHIELD's mainframe is being hacked backwards. Any information you've pulled off it three days or more after the battle of New York is falsified," Steve says.

"How would you know that?" Tony counters. The guy was born in, what, the 20's?

"I'm not as stupid as everyone thinks I am," Steve replies without dropping his gaze. "Fancy programming, though. Took me longer to figure it out than the agent that's planting false Intel for you."

Tony doesn't believe him for a second. "Prove it."

Steve flips a thumb drive across the table at him. "Use a private server, if you don't mind. I don't think you're one of the bad guys but my judgment has been wrong before."

He frowns and plugs the drive in, typing orders to JARVIS for scanning without speaking out loud. "Other than making up computer credentials, what's on tap?"

"SHIELD is compromised. It has been for years. HYDRA - "

"Oh, here it comes," Tony mutters.

Steve takes a deep breath and sighs. "I knew this was a bad idea." He stands up. "Take a look at my 'made-up' proof and I'll get you another contact if you give a shit about helping us."

"Hang on, you have other people in on this?" Tony asks. He hates being the last one picked for the team.

Steve blinks at him. "Do you think I would have brought it to *you* without getting another opinion first? Why open myself up to ridicule unless absolutely necessary? My friends and yes, I am allowed to call them that, said that you would want in on this so you can follow up with them."

Tony opens his mouth to fire back but JARVIS is scrolling alerts across the screen and he bites back his insult. "This is legit."

Steve pauses by the door and looks back at him. "I don't know what you expect from me, but I'll never apologize for loving Howard. Whatever he did to make you hate him happened when I wasn't here so don't hold your breath for me to take on the blame. You weren't born when I loved him and you'll be long dead before I stop." He's gone before Tony can process all of that but the words settle in to haunt the room.

Pepper enters after a moment. "That didn't take long. I hope you played nice."

"He threw a guilt trip at me and stormed out. I wish I could say I didn't deserve it but - damn. I'll make nice, I just need to look at this - shit - come look at this," Tony says and full-screens the evidence JARVIS has pieced together. "It really is fucking HYDRA."

"What? They've been gone for years," she adds, her eyes mapping the screen.

"He said they're hacking backwards, they're sending me dummy information with the spyware I hid in SHIELD's system. JARVIS, make sure they're not in our system - scan all the things ever," he adds.

"I have already started a full scale overhaul of our systems, Sir," the computer replies.

"This - this is big, Tony - too big for Steve to handle on his own, you have to - " Pepper starts but he turns at the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Steve's still flushed with anger but his eyes at least are softer. "Sorry. That wasn't acting like a grown up."

"No - tantrums happen around here all the time, it's something in the AC," Tony says. "What are we going to do about this?" He motions to the computer screen.

Steve steps fully back into the room. "It's a work in progress. We're still trying to nail down who we can trust. Barton wants to bring in Coulson, who's not dead, but he's got a mole on his squad. Fury's definitely on the level, but it's too soon to take it to him."

"Bruce said he was coming down to meet with you," Pepper says. Tony wonders why she's not surprised Coulson's alive.

"I want to talk to Bruce about something else, you'll want to sit in on that meeting, too, by the way, but I don't think we'll need the Hulk. There's a cloning issue I need to run past both of you, but it's not related to this," Steve replies absently.

"Cloning issues," Tony states. "Great. Why do I need to be in that pow-wow?"

"Reasons," Steve answers evenly.

"That's not a very grown-up answer, Steve," Pepper says, never taking her eyes off the screen. Tony wonders when he missed his girlfriend making friends with Cap.

"Howard Stark cloned at least three versions of himself. I wasn't in love with *your* father, I was with the original. But if it makes you feel any better, he cloned me at least three times, too," Steve replies. His hand shakes slightly but he quickly recovers, frowning.

"Those are definitely reasons," Tony says as the words hit the 'oh shit' part of his brain.

"You should have started with that - Steve, are you sure? What - " Pepper starts, alarmed.

Steve holds up his hand. "Stark's cloned father and my carbon copies are not a threat to the world at large. HYDRA is. We'll deal with that after we take down HYDRA, and SHIELD and whatever else we need to do to clean house. After that, we'll deal with the clones." He covers his face. "I figure I would have woken up from my psychotic break by now, but I have to take this one thing at a time."

"How do you know all this, Steve?" Tony asks. This is a lot of information for Cap to just stumble over in his down time.

"We don't know each other that well yet," Steve replies.

Touche.

 

 

  
## long time no see

He hovers his hand over the knob and does a quick mind-sweep of the area. Sharon's calm and alert as always in her apartment but something quickly clicks wrong when he scans his own place.

Someone's there. Two people. They both seem familiar. Dangerous, but familiar.

He doesn't want to alert Sharon and involve SHIELD when they're trying to stay under the radar as they work out plans.

He doesn't go further than a quick skim over their minds, unwilling to use his power that way without a world-fucking crisis forcing his hand. He turns the key in the lock and waits a beat before stepping inside.

Nothing looks undisturbed but he picks out the shadow in the main room and a matching one by the kitchen.

No tripwires or sounds from unfamiliar bugs or explosives. He doesn't need telepathy when his super-senses can hear precise sounds.

He hears something from the shadow in the kitchen. A whir, steady and too low for probaby dogs to hear. Metal. Admantium like Logan.

"What do you want?" Steve asks aloud.

He doesn't hear any safeties clicking off or hammers being cocked but the shadows don't move.

"Word on the wires is that you're about to rile up a hornets' nest."

Bucky's voice sounds like 1942 and he holds his breath and counts to ten. "You believe everything you hear on the wires?"

No answer.

"I heard Russians found you one-armed and frozen in the Alps. And I heard that kid over there is my clone," Steve says, taking a shot in the dark. The far shadow flinches and he knows he hit a mark.

The whir stutters a little as Bucky's shadow moves. The arm, of course.

"If you're really Steve Rogers, why haven't you found me before tonight? My Steve would have tracked me down as soon as he heard I was alive."

Steve takes a deep breath through his nose. "If you were really Bucky Barnes, you'd know why. You'd remember what happened the night before you fell off that train. Just like I know why you didn't show up as soon as SHIELD went public with my 'return'."

Bucky steps out. God, it's really him. "You know I didn't mean all that shit I said."

Only Bucky would know what happened the night before.

"You never told anyone. I apologized to Stark and he had no idea," Bucky says.

"Dad, what are you talking about?" the shadow asks softly.

Dad? His clone calls Bucky 'Dad'?

Bucky's eyes flash and Steve sees his friend, his best fucking friend, alive and healthy - with a son.

"I didn't mean it. If you're really alive, if you're really here, then I have to apologize before I kick your fucking ass for crashing that goddamn plane," Bucky says.

"Don't talk that way in front of your kid," Steve replies after a beat.

Bucky hesitates. "It's a long story."

"I have some time and it seems like you've already made yourself at home," he says. He holds his dead best friend's gaze. "Bucky."

"Steve." Bucky's voice breaks and he pulls Steve into a crushing hug with his metal fingers twisting in his shirt. "Fucking hell, it's really you."

"Back at'cha," he whispers, appreciating the hug a moment longer than he'll admit to before pulling back. "We have a lot to talk about." He turns around and flips on the lamp and sees his doppelganger for the first time. He huffs out a breath. "Wow."

"Yeah," the guy wearing his face agrees.

 

 

**So, I have a lot of scenes that never turn into fic where Steve gets cloned and Bucky raises the clone as his own and there's a "DUNDUNDUUUUUN" when they meet. It's kind of my happy place. (And my headcanon clone is Nick Gant from "Push".)

 

 

 

## meet the folks

"I took him from Howard as soon as I got wind of what he was doing. This scientist took the other one, he had a daughter already, good guy," Bucky says.

"Johnny's a dick, but he's family so we have to take what we can get," Nick adds in, his eyes never leaving Steve.

"What was Howard even thinking? I can't - God, I get that I was gone 70 odd years, but Jesus Christ," Steve blurts out. "Not only do I find out that the people that rescued me are evil, but that my best friends are still alive and either brainwashed or batshit."

Bucky looks away suddenly. "Yeah. It's been a while. Thing is, me and Logan lost some time when we got wiped, and you were sleeping. Howard was awake the whole time. He didn't lose any time; he didn't miss a second of it. I can't defend the things he did, but I would've probably lost my mind without a wipe, too."

"Don't say that. I can't imagine what you've gone through. And Nick, I'm sorry for what happened, but I'm really glad that Bucky took you in. Hell, he practically raised me," Steve says. The guy's a stranger, but he's the closest thing to a living relative that he's ever going to have.

"We raised each other," Bucky corrects. "And you don't get to apologize for shit that happened while you were gone. How the hell did SHIELD get you? When did you talk to Logan?"

Steve wants to tell Bucky everything. He wants to bounce every one of his plans off Bucky to have a clean set of eyes that he can trust.

Seventy years, though. Bucky has a life, a son. Steve wants Bucky on his six but he's not going to drag him into another shitstorm.

"I've got some things to work through before I can talk about everything," he says.

Bucky frowns. "You're messing with some big shit if you're thinking about going after SHIELD. You have no idea - "

"They're HYDRA. Not all of them, but a lot. Too many for it to be a fluke," Steve says.

Bucky's eyes skim across him. "How do you know for sure?"

"You're a mutant," Nick states suddenly. "That's what you and Dad were arguing about before the train."

"That's not why we argued. But I cannot confirm or deny the other part," Steve replies.

"I found out that Steve was sleeping with Howard and I lost it. It - it was - I didn't get a chance to explain before I died," Bucky admits in a burst to Nick. "I never knew things were like that between them."

"Oh," Nick says after a long beat. "But - you always talk about them like this epic romance."

"Hindsight, I guess," Bucky says absently. "I didn't know the mutant aspect for sure until just now. Was it the whole emotions thing?"

Steve nods slowly.

"I got it, too," Nick says, curling his fingers as the coffee cup rose from the table and levitated into his grasp. "Johnny can start fires, he swears he can fly with his thing but I'll believe that when I see it."

Steve blinks. "Oh."

"Is that why you don't want to talk about it? Please tell me you have more proof than bad mental vibrations," Bucky says.

"I get more than emotions now. I came out of the ice and I could hear everything, voices, thoughts - hell, some of the scientists were brainstorming ways to knock me out and cut me open - I couldn't sleep for days - the place is crawling with HYDRA. Then the aliens came and there's Howard's son - "

"Not your Howard - " Bucky interrupts.

Steve holds out his hand. "I didn't know that at the time and I was still overloading my circuits. I have a couple of people now that I trust and they took me to one of Logan's friends."

"Xavier?" Bucky waits for him to nod before he motions for him to continue. "He's all right. Took Nick to him when he first started getting weird."

Nick flips him off and Steve smiles at the exchange.

"So you've got control now? You're not overloading your circuits anymore?" Bucky frowns. The worry is familiar and Steve fills with warmth. God, he's missed him.

Steve takes a deep breath. "Not at the moment, but it's a work in progress. Natasha wants me to use it but I just want it to stop. I didn't need it before."

Bucky hesitates. "Yeah, you did. The Commandos knew something was up. You always knew where we were. You always knew when someone was having a bad day and your interrogations paid off twice as often as everyone else's."

That's new information. "What?"

"I told you not to talk about it. Gabe asked me once and I told him not to talk about it and they never did," Bucky says. "It's one of the reasons I flipped out when I found out about you and Howard - it was like you just kept adding on ways to risk your life."

"Gay Mutant Captain America - God, Fox News is going to fucking love you," Nick laughs.

Bucky glares at him but Steve has to admit the clone's right.

"End of the line, remember, Steve? I'm in this, whatever it is, with you. Tag me - "

"Us," Nick interjects.

"Tag us in," Bucky edits.

Steve studies him for a moment. "You know I want you on my team, Buck, but - "

"But nothing. Show me everything you have, I can - " Bucky begins.

Steve holds up his hand. "Not here. We're having a meeting tomorrow, I don't keep my intel here even if I have eyes on the place."

"That means you and Dad can catch up while I go poke around your stuff," Nick says.

Bucky's alive and for tonight, that's all he's going to let matter.

 

**I didn't intend for Bucky to come off as homophobic but he was seriously dunzo with Steve putting himself in danger and I think in this 'verse, finding out that he was banging Howard would have sent Bucky raging and it would have eaten him up not to ever have the chance to apologize for it like a normal bff-fight would end. Johnny and Nick get on like gangbusters. (Bucky hates him.)

  
## oh fuck you

"For the purposes of this meeting, he's my distant cousin and the answer to all your follow up questions are 'fuck you', respectively," Steve announces, stepping into the room with a mirror image of himself following behind. Twin Cap gives a wave and Clint feels Natasha stiffen beside him as the next man steps in.

"Bucky Fucking Barnes, get out of town," Clint recognizes.  
  
"Winter Soldier," Natasha hisses.

"Not today, not in a few decades," Barnes replies, hearing her whisper and winking.

"Stop it, Dad, we're working," Twin Cap says.

"Dad?" Natasha raises an eyebrow, returning the flirt. He'd scold her but she'd probably kill him for it.

"Fuck you," Bucky answers with a feral grin.

"I'm not entirely comfortable with what's happening right now," Clint says, turning his attention to the scruffy version of Steve in front of him. "You got a name? Skill set? Prison record?"

"Nick Gant, telekinetic, not under this name."

"Wrong answer," Barnes pokes him hard.

"Sorry. Fuck you?" Nick edits.

"Better," Bucky says, managing to swagger in the two steps it took to get to the seat beside Natasha at the table. "We're not talking about the distant cousin thing today, but we're both itching to start chopping off some HYDRA heads."

"Logan said you were out of the game," Natasha replies.

"Stole a kid from a lab, had to take some time off," Bucky smirks.

 

  
**And happy endings? Yay? And yeah, I totally crossed over another thing.

 

 

## howard

  
"It's nice to meet you, Jake," Steve says absently. He should be worried at how easy it's become to meet people that share his DNA and his face. "I'd like to talk to you later, but right now - "

Jake holds up his hands. "Oh, don't worry about me, he's the one that you have to talk to first, like, right now."

"Go, Cap. It's waited too long," Natasha says.

"I feel like we should applaud or something," Clint murmurs.

"Don't do that, he's jumpy as fuck," Jake warns.  
  
That's not promising but he has to see Howard. He's done his part to expose SHIELD for the head of HYDRA it has become and now he's ready to get whatever is left of his fucked up future back on track.

Bucky's his best friend again and he has quasi-brothers now and the thread tying everything together is Howard. Batshit crazy Howard, but his Howard nonetheless.

Jake buzzes him through the automated doors and gives him a thumbs-up for luck. He thinks he's going to like this version of himself, too.

He hears Howard's voice for the first time since he crashed the plane, muttering what would have sounded like nonsense in his first life but that he knows are programming codes for the newly patented SI computer language. When Tony comes out of his alcohol induced tantrum, Steve's totally going to gloat about Howard doing R & D under a fake name just like he'd said.

Then he sees him. Dark hair, expertly trimmed mustache and wild eyes flicking across the lines of script on the massive screen.

"Howard."

"I'm in the middle of something, Jake, write it down and put in on the pile," Howard replies without looking over.

He holds his breath. He takes a step closer. "Howard."

He turns and freezes in place, even his eyes freeze when they land on him.

"Stevie?" Howard whispers.

Nobody else ever gets to call him that. "Yeah."

He steps forward and reaches out to take Howard's hand. There are new callouses. He had the old ones memorized but 70 years is too long for those to still be there. "Have you touched a bottle of lotion while I've been gone?"

"Gone. You - is it really you?" Howard asks.

Steve raises his hand to Howard's throat and feels for the thin chain through his shirt. "You're still wearing them."

Howard huffs. "I made you a promise. How are you here? I - I looked for you - "

"And you finally found me. Howard. I'm sorry - I'm sorry for everything," Steve says.

Howard pulls him into his arms, wrapping himself around him and shaking with 70 year old sobs. "Fuck. I missed you so much…I - Goddammit, why did you have to wait until I lost my mind to show up? I can't - "

He hums into Howard's hair, breathing in the man he never thought he'd see again. That he'd never hold again. "I have lots of things to yell at you about, but I want to have this for now. I just want to stay right here and appreciate that this is real," Steve says.

"I - fuck…"

He pulls back far enough to cup Howard's chin. "We'll figure it out. Can I stay - " he starts.

"You're the delusional one if you think I'm letting you out of my sight ever again," Howard huffs out, slightly hysterical but completely serious.

"Pretty sure I've got three stand-ins ready to cover me outside," Steve says.

"I can explain - "

"No, you can't, because we're appreciating now," Steve chuckles.

 

 

## clone talk

"This is weird, right?" Nick mutters. Johnny nods in agreement.

"If by weird you mean 'awesome', then yes," Jake grins.

"How did you get left here with Stark, anyway? You came out of the same batch we did, right?" Johnny asks.

"The only batch," Jake replies. "I've only been here a couple of years, I bounced around the CIA, NSA, FBI, all that bullshit but you can only fake your own death so many times before they write you off. Figured I'd come back and check on the guy that made me into a real boy."

"Why do you keep faking your death? Who's after you?" Nick asks. He wonders what mutant power this one has. He doesn't seem the type to be undercover.

Jake shrugs. "Last one was a cartel down in South America. Clusterfuck. I didn't feel like going back on the radar after that one. Howard's crazy, sure, but he's not cruel. Now, give me the scoop on Captain A, he's the source code - I hope he's cool."

Johnny turns to Nick with an expectant look. "Yeah, bro, tell us about Steve since you've been hogging him for yourself."

"I have not been 'hogging' him," Nick protests. "I just met him first because my Dad's his best friend from before. He's…really nice. It's weird. I'm not nice and Johnny's a dick. Don't know about you yet," he says to Jake. "But Cap's like, G-Rated Care Bear Stare kind of nice."

"Uh, Fox News is still looping the clip of him cutting that chick's throat when he was blowing up SHIELD," Johnny says after a long beat.

"Just because he has to sometimes kill people for work doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Shit happens," Jake says.

Bucky clears his throat as he steps into the cushy living room. "Nicky, I need to go clean up some shit back home. Will you be okay here until I get back?"

"You don't want me to go with you?" Nick asks immediately. His Dad doesn't do well on his own for long periods without cops or secret government agencies getting involved.

"No, hang out with your friends and watch Steve for me," his dad says. "I'm going to try and get back before he figures out I'm gone."

Nick gets up and herds his dad into the hall. "What's going on?"

He shifts uncomfortably. "Do you like Tokyo? I mean, do you want to keep living there?"

Oh. "We need to move again? Did someone figure out who we are?" His father continues to avoid his eyes. "Dad?"

"I...want to be closer to Steve. When he decides where he's going to shack up with his boyfriend - I want to be close," his dad says finally.

"That sounds okay. Besides, I'm old enough that I can just move out on my own if I hate a place," Nick says.

"You tried that in Kiev and lasted three days - "

"Because you got arrested for drunk and disorderly and you can't get drunk," Nick reminds him. His dad rolls his eyes. "You're like my grumpy asshole roommate, you haven't helicopter-parented me since...ever," he shrugs.

"You guys argue in Cantonese. That's awesome," Jake says from the doorway.

"Do you need something?" his dad growls.

"Steve and Howard are on their way out of the cave."

 

**Author's Note:**

> I use Zenwriter when I have a pic for inspiration and since I'm abandoning this like the others, I just left the ## chapter breaks in there.
> 
> (Dominic Cooper is my bae. ♥)


End file.
